Lone Star Steakhouse
Becomes a Tastier Bet

By

Aaron Elstein The Wall Street Journal Online

Updated July 4, 2002 7:39 p.m. ET

After burning up shareholders for years with shoddy stock performance and excessive executive pay, Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Inc. is regaining favor with investors, some of whom credit corporate governance reforms instituted in the past year after the company's chairman and chief executive was voted off the board of directors.

Since former chairman Jamie B. Coulter lost his seat on the board -- he remains CEO -- Lone Star's stock price has more than doubled, outpacing one of the strongest sectors in an otherwise...